Various article conveying systems have been proposed for moving articles such as containers. Some of such systems include conveyors having movable grippers for holding the articles on the conveyors as the conveyors move along a conveying path. U.S. Pat. No. 7,036,658 discloses various examples of such conveyors. Often, such movable grippers can move to a position to conform to the size or orientation of the conveyed articles. Such conveyer grippers are thus “self-adjustable” to take into account the article being conveyed.
Other conveyor systems include side rails to confine or direct the conveyed articles. The side rails are mounted adjacent the movable conveyors. The rails may be adjustable to take into account different article sizes. Typically, numerous individual fasteners have to be tightened, the rail moved, and the fastener retightened, to change the width of a conveying path, for example during a change from one type of conveyed articles to another. It can be very time consuming and labor intensive to make such a change. It can also be difficult to accurately position the numerous side rails along a conveying path, in particular rails along any curved portions of the path. Also, such rails can become loosened over time, requiring frequent inspection and adjustment for optimal performance.
Accordingly, improved side rail for conveying systems for articles such as containers would be welcome, addressing one or more of the above drawbacks of conventional technology, and/or other disadvantages of currently available technology.